While relations between the AFL and the Swans have been strained on occasion lately, the league has reason to wish that John Longmire's patched-up side can overcome his old club this weekend.

This time, the league's vested interest isn't about furthering the cause of football in New South Wales, television ratings or some geopolitical agenda. In fact, this wouldn't be a case of the league barracking "for Sydney" so much as barracking "against North".

If North wins and reaches a preliminary final from eighth position, the Kangas will have established a template for resting players in the final round. "Rest-gate" will be seen, not as a rort of sorts, but as a highly successful method for rejuvenating a tired team at the tail end of the season.

North people have little doubt that the resting of 10 players in round 23 was necessary and that the decision to do so has been vindicated by their performance against the Tigers. While technically speaking there were only nine players dropped for the final round, Brent Harvey was used as the sub and played only a quarter in the forward pocket. Boomer does more running than that in a light training session.

Since so much of the focus from that elimination final has been on the yellow-and-bleak eliminated party, rather than the eliminators, the significance of the resting has attracted little comment since Sunday.

The vast majority of North's most influential players on Sunday were those who were sat down by Brad Scott and given the previous weekend off. Harvey and Jarrad Waite (rested) were clearly best, followed, in no specific order, by Todd Goldstein (rested), Andrew Swallow (rested), Ben Cunnington (rested), Michael Firrito (rested), Jack Ziebell (no rest), Shaun Higgins (rested). Ben Jacobs, who smothered the hapless Trent Cotchin and would have earned big brownie points from the coach, was a non-rester.

The other resters, for what it's worth, were Nick Dal Santo, Scott Thompson and Sam Wright – each of whom was respectable against Richmond.

North's view is that they merely did what was logical, given their circumstances, and that other clubs would have done the same in their shoes.

The Kangas also note that the Bulldogs rested players – remember that veterans Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd sat down for the loss to the Lions in round 23 – but that they staggered their rests over two or three weeks and thus attracted no opprobrium.

The Roos didn't have this luxury of strategically resting a few players each week because they were, as one official put it, "going like a bat out of hell to make sure we made the eight". Their finals berth wasn't secure until Geelong's loss to Collingwood in round 22.

North says that the players who were rested – most of whom were described as suffering from a "knee" when withdrawn – were labouring badly late in the season, and the week off provided a crucial breather.

Success demands no explanation, as one old North coach with curly hair, used to say. Brad Scott stands vindicated, even if his aggressive attacks on those who questioned it were a bit much.

Unfortunately, this means that if a team finds itself secure in the eight in the final round(s) but without incentive to move up, the coach of that club will have the example of North's mass resting as exhibit A when he considers whether to sit down a third or half his side.

If the Roos happen to get past the Swans on Saturday, the evidence in favour of treating round 23 as two-and-a-half-hour recovery session will gain further traction. The AFL could well be compelled to act and pass a rule – Gill McLachlan suggested a final round bye as a possible solution – that will prevent a repeat of Rest-gate. It would be much easier for the AFL if North simply lost, and, for that matter, if the Dockers didn't progress to the grand final.